As the Sacramento Metro Chamber moves into the next phase of its business retention and expansion efforts, it announces a new manager who has joined the staff, Matt Yancey, director of business and economic development.
Yancey, who holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from CSU Chico, formerly served as an associate project manager with the Sacramento office of Applied Development Economics. He is familiar with the Metro Pulse BRE system, having sat on the steering committee as a representative of ADE, a sponsor of the program.

As Metro Pulse begins to assist regional businesses, Yancey and the steering committee will work to connect them with the appropriate resources for their specific growth/expansion needs. Businesses can take a self-assessment at metropulse.org.

“The Metro Chamber and participating jurisdictions are meeting regularly to review the program's performance and ensure that all businesses that have completed the self-assessment are being referred to the resources they need,” Yancey said.
Focusing on business retention and expansion is a Metro Chamber priority for 2007 and will continue to be so in the future.

“Much is at stake as the Sacramento region has the opportunity, with forward thinking and regional cooperation, to claim the title as “the place” to grow a business,” Yancey noted. “And the Metro Chamber is leading the way with programs such as Metro Pulse.”

Additionally, efforts to promote the development of the region’s clean energy technology sector—part of the Partnership for Prosperity cluster of five initiatives to grow and plan the economy in the six-county region—will frame many of the Metro Chamber’s activities and events going forward, Yancey added.

“Businesses will find that the Metro Chamber has channeled its advocacy efforts at securing flood protection funding from state and federal sources, at ensuring we get our fair share of state transportation bond dollars and at proactively working to connect our businesses to the resources they need. This is all a long-view strategy that’s going to make our region the best place to do business in California and a center for the emerging clean energy technology sector,” he said.